Fort Smith’s gay bar gives back
The legendary Kinkead’s was started by Miss Gay Arkansas America Kirby Kinkead (Kirby Maggard) in 1994 and the bar has changed hands several times. But in 2009, when Maggard almost had to sell Kinkead’s to a straight man with anti-LGBT tendencies, current bar-owner Rick Eubank stepped in.
“From what everyone was telling me, this straight guy didn’t want gay folks in there – period. I called Kirby and said, ‘Please don’t do that.’ [Kinkead’s] was the only place anywhere around for anybody [gay] to be able to go,” says Eubank.
“His conditions were strict though. He wanted it to go to someone that would carry on with working with our community, as well as someone who would take the time to love them the way the he felt they needed to be loved.”
Within two months, the bar was his.
Eubank was a pastor before a bar owner. But, although he walked into a completely new life, he has found himself quite comfortable there. “I have kept the bar because I actually care about the people that come there. When they hurt, I feel like sometimes I hurt with them. Likewise, when they are happy, I'm happy to celebrate with them.”
Eubank remarks that congregants of his weddings, gay and straight, often are surprised to learn that he is a gay bar owner. “Of course, my response is always something like, ‘Get a little liquor in me and the queen comes out!’”
The ‘90s were a different time for Fort Smith, Arkansas’ only gay bar. “I’ve heard stories from back when,” Eubank says. “Bricks through the window. Now I have as many straight people as gay people. Everybody’s pretty friendly.”
Friendly is less of a word than the one that can be attributed to Kinkead’s, though. Patrons and employees alike consider this bar a home – a family.
A good friend once told him, “‘It’s just like being a pastor. When they are sick, go see them in the hospital. When they need food, go and take them some. When they need an ear to listen, listen to them,’” Eubank recites. “She told me that if I would do all of that, that I would be fine. Well, it was honestly a bigger undertaking for me than I had ever had as a minister.
“We’re a little different than most bars. Mine is close-knit. Everybody who comes in, I get to know and let them fit in. I spend time inside and outside the bar with everybody,” says Eubanks.
And their reviews reflect the bar’s popularity: one Facebook user says, “The shows are addicting to watch, the drinks are great and the people are wonderful. This place will be my one and only bar I attend from now on.”
Their regulars agree that Kinkead’s is their favorite bar – and it doesn’t hurt that it’s the only gay bar within their region. Otherwise, you would have quite the drive.
So instead, Kinkead’s is open from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, it’s karaoke night, hosted by Ari Phoenix, their DJ. Every Friday they have a live band, such as Mos Isley, and every Saturday there is a different queen who hosts – Jazmyn Turrelle from Fayetteville; Divine Reality, whose home bar is Kinkead’s; Stefanie Paige, a local; and Tareal Davenport Phillips, “the mama” of the Davenport family. Sundays also feature brunch with bottomless mimosas and a full Bloody Mary Bar.
In July, Kinkead’s began opening at 8 a.m. to introduce a “coffee house feel” to the LGBT community in Fort Smith. The bar opens now in the afternoon, but during the day it is where you can go to get your caffeine fix! Kinkead’s gives back to the community in a thousand ways, primarily with their homeless charity event “The Day of Love”, in which they feed over 280 people, provide haircuts and give clothing.
You can find out about their events, the charities they support and more by searching them on Facebook under the name Kinkead’s. Cheers!
Copyright 2016 The Gayly - 8/20/2016 @ 9:06 a.m. CDT.